Inheritance and Estate Taxes

Ruby Washington/The New York Times

News about Inheritance and Estate Taxes, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Oct. 4, 2014

Paul Sullivan Wealth Matters column notes that court victory of James A Elkins Jr's estate over Internal Revenue Service's taxation of his fine art collection could reshape way art is valued for tax purposes. MORE

Mar. 29, 2014

Paul Sullivan Wealth Matters column; trusts, marked by inscrutable acronyms, have grown in complexity and are not for every investor. MORE

Jan. 25, 2014

Paul Sullivan Wealth Matters column observes that for most of United States estate tax is something only very wealthy have to plan for, with exception of 16 states, mostly in North, where estate taxes ensnare middle- and upper-middle-class residents--very people the high federal exemption was intended to protect. MORE

Sep. 28, 2013

Paul Sullivan Wealth Matters column examines how unknowable variables can complicate appraisal of assets in estates; emphasizes that appraisals are a must to avoid penalties from Internal Revenue Service. MORE

Dec. 11, 2012

Supreme Court has agreed to hear suit filed by 83-year-old Edith Windsor of Manhattan, challenging the Defense of Marriage Act; Windsor says federal law prohibited the Internal Revenue Service from treating her as a surviving spouse after the death of her partner Thea Spyer, whom she had married in Canada, costing her more than $600,000 in state and federal estate taxes. MORE

Nov. 5, 2012

Editorial warns that Congressional Republicans hope to extend cuts in estate tax for America's wealthiest families and to end tax credits for low- and moderate-income working families; contends heirs of wealthiest Americans do not need continued tax breaks that the nation cannot afford, particularly when working families need all the help they can get. MORE

Oct. 17, 2012

Qualified terminable interest property trust, or QTIP, allows wealthy to leave the bulk of their estate to someone other than a spouse, like children of a first marriage, yet take full advantage of the unlimited marital deduction in estate tax law. MORE

Oct. 2, 2012

Editorial contends Mitt Romney and his wealthy peers, who save millions by exploiting loopholes in the tax system, benefit far more from the federal government than those who rely on the social safety net; notes that Romney would like to eliminate the estate tax, move that would cost the US treasury more than $1 trillion over a decade. MORE

Jul. 22, 2012

Heirs of New York art dealer IIeana Sonnabend are challenging an IRS judgement that would force them to pay $29.2 million in taxes on their inheritance of a masterpiece mixed media work by Robert Rauschenberg; IRS has appraised the piece at $65 million, despite fact that it cannot ever be legally sold because it includes a stuffed bald eagle, a federally protected bird. MORE

Jul. 8, 2012

John Schwartz Essay relates that Arizona State University law school professor Adam Chodorow, in the Iowa Law Review, playfully offers a theory of how the tax code would treat zombies, including such topics as whether zombies should be considered dead for purposes of the estate tax; contends Chodorow is examining serious tax-code issues from a refreshing perspective. MORE

Jun. 23, 2012

Paul Sullivan Wealth Matters column notes that tax break allowing wealthy Americans to give up to $5.12 million to heirs tax-free is set to expire along with the rest of the Bush-era tax cuts at the end of the year, barring Congressional action. MORE

Feb. 9, 2012

In 2013, income tax and taxes on gifts and estates will revert to higher rates if Congress makes no changes to laws before elections; under current law, each individual may give away up to $5.12 million free of gift taxes, although a gift tax return must be filed for amounts over $13,000; the $5.12 million uses up what is known in tax law as the unified credit for gift and estate taxes, and many financial advisers are encouraging clients to take advantage of the credit now. MORE

Business/Financial Desk

President Bush has made repealing gift and estate taxes a centerpiece of his tax cut plan. Proponents and opponents of the repeal agree that, as proposed, it would save the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans about $236 billion over the next decade. But unless Congress writes conditions into the legislation, estate tax lawyers and other experts say, the real savings to those taxpayers -- and the consequent drain on government treasuries -- could be vastly greater. They cited several ways in which wealthier taxpayers could maneuver to reduce or eliminate other taxes.

January 29, 2001nytfrontpageNews

National Desk

Harlyn Riekena worried that his success would cost him when he died. Thirty-seven years ago he quit teaching to farm and over the years bought more and more of the rich black soil here in central Iowa. Now he and his wife, Karen, own 950 gently rolling acres planted in soybeans and corn. The farmland alone is worth more than $2.5 million, and so Mr. Riekena, 61, fretted that estate taxes would take a big chunk of his three grown daughters' inheritance.

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President Obama will use his State of the Union address Tuesday to call on Congress to raise taxes and fees on the wealthiest taxpayers to finance the tax cuts, administration officials said on Saturday.